Has anyone here used this steadicam system? It is on

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart&...Q=&sku=241313&is=REG

I have a GL-2, but sooner or later, I'll be using the XL-H....2.

Thanks

A friend of mine got it. Total waste of money. It seems to be worth about $60, max. The difference in smoothness between it and the famous DIY $14 stedicam are tiny. In some circumstances it's even worse than the $14 one.

Thank you SO MUCH!

As you may or may not know, 90% of the performance of any stabilizer system depends on the user's training and abilities. I'm far from the greatest operator in the world, but I have realistic expectations for my system and don't try for Hollywood-smooth shots that would be better executed on a dolly. I have a homemade stabilizer using a ball head as a gimbal.

I've also used the Glidecam 2000 fairly extensively, in conjunction with the arm brace. I don't recall it costing anywhere near $999 (the stabilizer was around $400 and the brace around $75, AFAIK), but that was 3-4 years ago. It gave very nice results even with large, heavy SVHS camcorders. For larger miniDV cameras (XL2, etc), the 4000 should be a pretty good choice if you have quite a bit of money and need a stabilizer, but work under conditions that you can't rent one or lay tracks for a dolly. Not sure how many people fit that description.

FWIW, the Glidecam products are quite well made - much more so than the "Steadicam Jr." which is not actually made by Steadicam anymore.

I suspect that training does help somewhat. When you handle it it just feels cheap though. Totally incomprehensible where the money went.

You're talking about the Glidecam, the one that's mostly machined aluminum? What's cheap about it? Most of the money went into the gimbal. Steadicam's competing model (the Jr.) is mostly plastic and has a ball gimbal, not a true three axis design with independent bearings.

Well im gonna say that the $14 steady cam works great!

I used the Steadicam JR for my One Headlight video and got great results. I couldn't ask for anything better, so I'm stickin' with it. Evan, I don't know if that's entirely correct. Looking at it right now, I'm seeing a three axis system. Maybe they changed later on to a ball gimbal?

I can't remember exactly, but the various parts just seemed inexpensive. Not worth the thousand, or even four-hundred dollar, price tag. It was just wielded metal and screws and little washers and things.

Heh, not sure what you expected... in terms of 'pro' 'film' equipment $400 barely buys a light stand or two. A good rule of thumb is to multiply the apparent value by ten to get the retail price